We were recently approached by the lovely Funky Giraffe Bibs to do a little review for them and as you can guess from the name they're all about the bibs. Logan is a little old for bibs at almost 3 but luckily Funky Giraffe Bibs also have other products such as hats, playsuits, rompers, t-shirt, dresses etc so we chose a couple of t-shirts to review instead.

Funky
Giraffe was set up in 2009 by Yasmin Drury, having worked for a major
retailer she was all too aware of the cost of production and the massive
mark up charged by companies. As a mum herself, she knew what she
wanted for her son and set out to produce funky designs at a reasonable
price.

This
is a true family business; Yasmin’s brother produces the garments in
his factory based in Bursa, Turkey and she runs the business with her
husband Solomon and their 4 year old son! Unlike many small companies in
a similar position in Turkey, Funky Giraffe pay social security and
insurance payments for their staff and ensure that they have broadly
similar levels of health and safety to the UK.

So what did we think of the t-shirts Logan was sent? Well they're great. Firstly Funky Giraffe Bibs have a good selection of t-shirts to choose from with simple striking designs. I chose the green explorer and white pure joy t-shirts for Logan to try. There are a range of sizes to choose from starting at 3 months and going up to 4 years. The t-shirts are very soft and hold their shape well especially around the neck thanks to a handy built in elasticated strip which I think is genius! Logan loved wearing the t-shirts due to their softness and there was plenty of room for him to move easily in them which is a bonus for a toddler who's becoming obsessed with spiderman.

Funky Giraffe only use fabric made to OEKO-TEX standard 100 for baby garments.They
print their own items and only use water based inks. The company only
use inks that are completely non toxic which is great to know. These t-shirts was really well at 40c and are beautifully stitched. I'm really fussy about the stitching on clothes and a loose thread of bad stitch puts me off. But I examined these t-shirts with a fine toothed comb and couldn't find a stitch out of place. One very happy mummy here.

You can purchase these t-shirts from as little as £6.50 however you have to bulk buy to get that price. If you're not bulk buying then they're £9 each. You also get free UK shipping, hurray!

With prices starting at under £2 for baby bibs, personalised items from £4 and playsuits from £7, these are quality products at very affordable prices, making them the ideal Christmas present. Due to popular demand the range is expanding daily so watch this space for more exciting products.

Overall I really like these t-shirts, they wear well and wash well so can't complain about that at all. Logan also enjoyed wearing them so he's given the thumbs up. Pricing is fair considering the quality of these t-shirts and they'd make a great present for that little person in your life.

Win! An exclusive Avengers Academy day out for you and your friends with Rubie’s

Ever
thought about what you’d you do if you had super powers? How would you
keep the world safe in the face of danger? Children across the UK are
being invited to share their best advice and tips on what they would do
if they were a superhero for a day in an online competition launched by
fancy dress manufacturer Rubie’s.

All
entrants are invited to submit their words of wisdom for protecting the
Earth along with a photo sporting their very best superhero outfits –
homemade or official.

Showcasing an assemblage of super-beings, adventurers and crime fighters, all entries submitted via the Rubie’s Marvel Superheroes website will be uploaded to an online Pinterest gallery for all to see
and included in a video on Rubie’s YouTube page. The best entrant will
be chosen by a panel of judges and will be crowned the ultimate
superhero. The lucky winner will receive the ultimate superhero prize,
an Avengers Academy experience.

The
winner and ten friends will receive a special invitation to the
ultimate Marvel themed day out. They’ll be kitted out in the latest
Rubie’s Marvel costumes and will spend the day at a local kids activity
centre. In between tackling the exciting activities, the team will
refuel with an Avengers themed party feast and will be entertained by a
special party host. The day will be topped off with all party members
taking home an exclusive Avengers party bag.

Launched
by Rubie’s, one of the UK and Europe’s leading fancy dress costume
manufacturers, the Avengers Academy competition has been created to
share kids’ love for their favourite superheroes. In addition to the
winning prize, the first fifty entrants will also receive a free copy of
the latest Marvel movie, Avengers Assemble, on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Win
a £50 voucher to spend at new baby and children’s website Sweetpea

Sweetpea
is an online boutique that brings together a collection of
easy-to-wear stylish fashion for babies and children aged 0-6.

Sweetpea
offers parents a real alternative choice from the high street and
other popular online destinations with each of their collections
carefully selected for its great quality, wonderful detailing, simple
styling, gorgeous colours and prints, and, most importantly, really
competitive pricing.

At
Sweetpea, parents will discover up-and-coming new designers such as
Beau Loves and Tappa Nakki alongside well-loved brands such as Toffee
Moon and Week-end a la Mer not to mention exclusive access to
designers not yet available in the UK such as Nice Things Mini, who
will be introduced this Autumn.

Alongside
the baby and children’s fashion, Sweetpea have put together a small
collection of imaginative toys and gifts by Kiko , gg*, Chimen and
The Black Rabbit.

All
Sweetpea orders are packaged in eco-friendly canvas bags, which can
be re-used for anything from carrying home the groceries to an
overnight bag. Sweetpea also offer free returns and free postage on
orders over £50.

12 November 2012

Medela are very excited to announce the
launch of their new campaign; Make a Pledge. The campaign gives
families a unique opportunity to make a special and personal promise to
an important child in their life, through a dedicated microsite www.makeapledge.co.ukMedela provides the most technologically
advanced breast pumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers
around the world. A long-time champion of breastfeeding, Medela is the
only company to develop products based on research by the world’s
leading lactation experts. As a result, Medela’s breast pumps are the
number one choice of healthcare professionals and facilities worldwide.There are plenty of things to think about
when a new baby will soon be joining the family. Everyone hopes it will
be loved and cared for, but beyond that every parent and family member
has a special wish for that child. Whether it’s something simple like
promising to teach them how to bake their Grandmother’s chocolate cake,
or to take them swimming every Sunday, it’s certainly nice to make a
note of that treasured promise. Medela themselves have pledged to
support new families in the precious breastfeeding months.With so much excitement when a new baby
arrives, it’s easy to lose sight of things you always imagined you would
pass on. The pressures and expectations new families face are enormous,
and parents may be overwhelmed by the wealth of decisions they need to
make such as; what nappies to use, feeding choices and later down the
line what school to select? With these on-going and important choices
parents’ can easily forget about the little things. Maybe they’d always
dreamed of making a family tree with their child, or going blackberry
picking at their local farm. With this in mind Medela have set up a
dedicated microsite where parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles,
siblings and even godparents or family friends can make their individual
and personal promise to a child they love, however big or small!

A promise can be absolutely anything, and
best of all everyone who makes a pledge gets a lovely personalised
certificate to keep. Dad may promise he’ll be there when his little one
scores his first goal, or Mum might pledge to teach her little one her
native language. Whatever you pledge, it’s a lovely thing to be able to
share with a child when they are older, and you can even keep it in
their baby book. It’s also a brilliant way to let a sibling bond with
their little brother or sister. Of course you can pledge to any baby or
child whatever their age!To celebrate the Make a Pledge campaign,
Medela have created a video that is sure to give everyone a warm fuzzy
feeling! It shares the thoughts of expectant parents and even a little
sister talking about her dreams for their new arrival, her pledge was to
share her sweeties!

So if you have children, are expecting a baby or just have a special little someone in your life make them a personal pledge at www.makeapledge.co.uk

Academy Award nominee
The Snowman has captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation of
families across the globe. Now, this timeless classic is available for
the first time ever in high definition as The Snowman: 30th Anniversary Edition is released on Blu-Ray and DVD from November 5th 2012.To celebrate, they've teamed up with master snow sculptor Duncan Hamilton (www.icesculpture.co.uk) from Hamilton ice sculptures to help you create your very own snowman!Duncan says: "The
traditional way to build a snowman is to pack snow together by hand,
roll it to form balls and pat snow on to the surface to make the shape.
This is quite limiting in terms of design and is not how the pros do it!
To make a really strong snowman with lots of extra detail, why not try
the following tips. But make sure you get a grown up to help you!"

#1 Get
four equal sized sheets of wood. Arrange them to make a box with an
open top and run a strong rope around them to keep them steady.#2 Now shovel fresh snow into the box. #3 Stamp or push it down carefully to compact it and carry on until you have filled the whole box.#4 Leave it to stand for at least a couple of hours.#5 Now remove the rope and the sheets of wood to reveal a perfectly compacted block of snow.#6 You
are now ready to carve your snow. Use any tools you have to hand –
knives, saws, even spoons. You should find the snow quite easy to
sculpt. #7 Think carefully about your design and make sure that it is heavy at the base to prevent it collapsing or falling over.#8 Be ambitious and have a good time!Another idea…In cold weather leave
a tray with 1cm of water in it outside overnight to freeze. In the
morning break the frozen sheets of ice up into bits and drill a small
hole in each one, run string through the hole, then hang them from a
tree to make a hanging ice installation.

Some facts:

Compacted snow has approx ½ the density of water, so a 1m cube will weigh about 500kg.

Snow melts more slowly than ice.

You can easily colour snow with food colouring and add it in layers to get different effects.

Michelangelo is reported to have sculpted Hercules in snow in Florence one winter for the Medicis.

Giveaway:

Now my lucky readers can be in with a chance of winning 1 of 3 of these fantastic 30th Anniversary Edition DVD's of The Snowman.

How To Enter:

Basically all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to follow The Breastest News on Facebookand leave a comment here telling me you have done so. As simple as
that! If you'd like an extra chance of winning then simply follow The
Breastest News on Twitter as well and leave a comment telling me you have done so. That's all you have to do, very simple.

This is a UK only giveaway, closing date is 2nd December 2012 at 12 noon.

Today we have a great feature for you all from the very lovely (and gorgeous) Marc Pacifico, a consultant plastic surgeon who specialises in both reconstructive and cosmetic surgery and works at McIndoe Surgical Centre in West Sussex www.mcindoesurgical.co.uk. I'm asking him about breastfeeding after surgery so here's what he has to say.

So first things first Marc, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?I am a consultant plastic surgeon, with both a
reconstructive and cosmetic practice. My reconstructive side is
predominantly breast surgery - both post-cancer reconstruction and
surgery for women with developmental breast problems (such as breast
asymmetry or tuberous breasts). On the aesthetic side of my practice,
apart from surgery to the face and body, I do a considerable amount of
cosmetic breast surgery, including breast enlargement, breast lifts,
breast reductions and nipple operations. I really enjoy my work, but
have two small children at home, so my rule is to work very hard during
the week, but wherever possible keep my weekends free for family time!

Breastfeeding after surgery is not something often discussed at antenatal groups, maybe due to lack of knowledge? So is breastfeeding after, say a breast enlargement, possible?Breast
feeding after a breast enlargement (augmentation) is possible as the
milk ducts are not damaged during the operation. Furthermore, it is also
safe - in fact a study some years ago looked at the amount of silicone
found in the breast milk of mothers with breast implants and compared it
with the amount of silicone in formula milk from the bottle of
bottle-fed babies. Surprisingly there was less free silicone in the
breastfed group! In both groups the amount of silicone was so small it
was not at all clinically relevant in any case.

What about after a breast reduction or nipple surgery?Regarding
breast reduction, the answer as to whether breast feeding is possible
is - possibly. It really depends on the size of reduction, the technique
used, and also an element of chance. So although I would never say
never, I would say that a breast reduction may affect breast feeding in
the future. I would always recommend trying to breast feed, but be
prepared for it not to work after a breast reduction. The important thing, however, is that you will do no harm trying.

Are there any increased problems such as mastitis when breastfeeding with implants or any other form of breast surgery?The short answer is no. Theoretically there may
be a slightly higher chance after a breast reduction as the ducts may
have been partially damaged, but this has not been borne out in reality.
Therefore, I would still recommend trying to breast feed if you can.

Also for the women out there already breastfeeding but having to undergo surgery (not on the breasts), how long should they wait before breastfeeding their baby again?For women who have breast fed and seek elective
breast surgery (such as a breast lift) I would wait a minimum of
6-months after breast feeding. However, for surgery during breast
feeding, such as for an abscess, breast feeding should be continued as
soon as possible, to reduce the risk of further mastitis, infection and
abscess formation.Is there anything women can do to maximise their breast milk production after breast surgery?Unfortunately, apart from eating a balanced and healthy diet, nature will dictate how efficient your milk production is!

-
Ella’s Kitchen masterminds a new gastronomic experience to let adults
taste the same intense flavours babies taste when they try new
foods –

The world’s first ‘baby taste’ menu marks the biggest revolution in the British culinary scene since Heston introduced
molecular gastronomy. The Big Tastes Menu, created by baby and toddler food experts
Ella’s Kitchen, is designed to let adults experience the big flavours tiny tots taste when they try new foods.

Based on academic research revealing that babies have three times as many taste buds as adults, and even additional
taste buds in their cheeks, the Big Tastes Menu includes ‘taste-amplified’ Brussels Sprouts and super-strength strawberries.

The
Ella’s Kitchen Big Tastes Menu includes foods recreated as babies might
taste them, with a flavour intensity of
up to ten times what a seasoned adult palate would normally
experience. The big taste sensations make sweet foods even sweeter but
exaggerate the bitterness of other foods, such as Brussels Sprouts,
helping to explain babies’ extreme reactions of delight
or dislike of new foods.

The
research shows that there are major physiological differences between
the way babies and adults experience food.
Whilst babies are born with around 30,000 taste buds in a tiny mouth,
many of these are lost with age and the average adult has only 10,000
taste buds which are largely restricted to their tongue.

Chris Lukehurst, Taste Psychologist, comments:
“Babies
experience a significantly higher volume of taste than the average
adult. Evolution has also prompted them to develop an innate preference
towards sweet flavours
and avoidance of any bitter tastes, helping to explain why babies
accept or reject certain new foods. We have worked with Ella’s Kitchen
to create the Big Tastes Menu to demonstrate to adults the same intense
flavours babies experience when they first try
foods, including the deliciousness of Ella’s Kitchen’s foods which are
developed with babies’ taste buds in mind.”

Paul Lindley, Ella’s Dad and founder of Ella’s Kitchen, comments: “By
creating the Ella’s Kitchen Big Tastes Menu, we are trying to help
parents understand what babies really taste and explain why they have
such strong reactions to new foods. We are passionate about making
sense of tiny tots’ taste buds so that we create the
best quality food, just right for tiny taste buds, encouraging little
ones to enjoy eating healthy foods from a very young age. Believe me,
the taste of a strawberry multiplied by ten, just like a baby
experiences, is amazing.“

The
menu was developed by specialist chefs at Molecular Bubble to allow
adults to experience the combination of big tastes in Ella’s Kitchen
baby food in the same way their little ones do. Whilst different
techniques were used to create the big tastes featured in the menu,
Ella’s Kitchen goes to great lengths to ensure all of their products
taste as good as homemade using only top quality organic
ingredients with real herbs and spices, such as coconut and ginger, and
no added water or refined sugar.

Ella’s
Kitchen’s vision is to help babies and toddlers eat healthier food and
develop healthy eating habits that last a lifetime. Set up six years
ago
by Ella’s Dad Paul Lindley, the company prioritises health and
nutritional value, but never at the expense of taste or convenience.
Ella’s Kitchen strive to be Good in every sense, offering healthy,
handy and fun food that doesn’t cost the earth.

Since
2009 Ella’s Kitchen has ranked in the top 25 fastest growing companies
in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 and secured a variety of consumer,
trade
and business accolades including Best Food and Drink Brand in the 2010
Grocer Gold Awards, International Business of the Year at the Fast
Growth Business Awards 2011 and Best Organic Baby Food at the 2011 Prima
Baby Awards. Ella’s Kitchen has a 13.8% share
of the UK baby food market and their products are now present in 30% of
UK households with children under three.

The
brand launched in Scandinavia and the US in 2009 and opened their
second office in New Jersey, USA in 2011. International expansion is
continuing
with the Australia launch in March 2012 and now every second of every
day someone around the world is eating an Ella’s product.